'Pakistan behind Pushtoon leader's killing'

The Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, was instrumental in getting Pushtoon leader Abdul Haq killed by the Taleban, the Afghan Northern Alliance ambassador to India, Masood Khalili, said on Friday.

"The killing of commander Abdul Haq was a part of ISI's plot," Khalili told rediff.com

Abdul Haq, a former mujahideen leader, was one of the few Pushtoon leaders to support the American bid to topple the Taleban regime.
He went to Afghanistan to convince sections of the Taleban leadership to defect and help form a new government. But he was hounded and killed by the militia, who had prior information about his movements.

Khalili also said that there was no such thing as a "moderate" Taleban.

"It was Abdul Haq's belief that there were 'moderate' Taleban that lead to his death," he said.

Efforts to split the Taleban have so far proved difficult. The fate of another Pushtoon leader, Hamid Karzai, who had slid into Afghanistan to ensure a defection in the Taleban ranks, is unsure.

Although Pakistan supports the United States-led war against terrorism, it has reservations about the anti-Taleban Northern Alliance, which is supported by India, Russia, Tajikistan and Iran.

But the Americans do not take Pakistan seriously and continue to help the Northern Alliance, Khalili said.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar had said that military assistance to Northern Alliance would be a recipe for disaster.

"If the Americans had taken Pakistan seriously, they would not have helped the Northern Alliance. We have excellent cooperation with each other and our common enemy is terrorism," Khalili added.

Meanwhile, certain Pakistani religious parties have given a call for jihad against the US and hundreds of their followers have rushed to fight along with the Taleban.

Khalili believed that it would not only prolong the war, but also lead to greater number of deaths.

"The reinforcements will naturally strengthen the Taleban. It will help the militia and its mentors to stay longer than expected. But ultimately, there will be more casualties on their side and more dead bodies will be taken back to Pakistan," he said.

"The Taleban and Osama bin Laden will undoubtedly be defeated. We have to be patient," Khalili said.

Speaking about the nature of a post-Taleban government, Khalili ruled out any interference by external powers. "We believe that the future government of Afghanistan should be decided by the Afghans.

He emphasised that the Northern Alliance would not share power with the Taleban in any future government.